Street Signs

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is in the midst of a complete retrospective of the work of the Dardenne brothers, Luc and Jean-Pierre (they’ll be appearing there in person tonight in discussion with Kent Jones), whose features have been enormously and justly influential in the last decade. But the nature of their achievement, practicalities (two Palmes d’Or at Cannes) aside, is fascinating to consider: their documentary-style dramas, filmed on location largely with non-actors portraying characters in the grips of economic troubles, are surprisingly endowed with strong symbolic elements. I discuss them in this clip from “L’Enfant” (“The Child”), from 2005. (It’s playing tomorrow at 8:30 P.M.)

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As the years passed, Tom grew more entrenched in his homelessness. He was absorbed in lofty fantasies and private missions, aware of the basest necessities and the most transcendent abstractions, and almost nothing in between.